Related papers: Efficient algorithms for the Potts model on small-…
We prove that the $\alpha$-expansion algorithm for MAP inference always returns a globally optimal assignment for Markov Random Fields with Potts pairwise potentials, with a catch: the returned assignment is only guaranteed to be optimal…
We study the problem of approximating the Ising model partition function with complex parameters on bounded degree graphs. We establish a deterministic polynomial-time approximation scheme for the partition function when the interactions…
We study polynomial-time approximation algorithms for (edge/vertex) Sparsest Cut and Small Set Expansion in terms of $k$, the number of edges or vertices cut in the optimal solution. Our main results are $\mathcal{O}(\text{polylog}\,…
We develop an efficient algorithmic approach for approximate counting and sampling in the low-temperature regime of a broad class of statistical physics models on finite subsets of the lattice $\mathbb Z^d$ and on the torus $(\mathbb Z/n…
Potts models, which can be used to analyze dependent observations on a lattice, have seen widespread application in a variety of areas, including statistical mechanics, neuroscience, and quantum computing. To address the intractability of…
The partition function of the q-state Potts model with random ferromagnetic couplings in the large-q limit is generally dominated by the contribution of a single diagram of the high temperature expansion. Computing this dominant diagram…
The notions of bounded expansion and nowhere denseness not only offer robust and general definitions of uniform sparseness of graphs, they also describe the tractability boundary for several important algorithmic questions. In this paper we…
We give an algorithm for solving unique games (UG) instances whenever low-degree sum-of-squares proofs certify good bounds on the small-set-expansion of the underlying constraint graph via a hypercontractive inequality. Our algorithm is in…
We establish a polynomial-time approximation algorithm for partition functions of quantum spin models at high temperature. Our algorithm is based on the quantum cluster expansion of Neto\v{c}n\'y and Redig and the cluster expansion approach…
Normal factor graph duality offers new possibilities for Monte Carlo algorithms in graphical models. Specifically, we consider the problem of estimating the partition function of the ferromagnetic Ising and Potts models by Monte Carlo…
We study the computational complexity of estimating local observables for Gibbs distributions. A simple combinatorial example is the average size of an independent set in a graph. In a recent work, we established NP-hardness of…
We give a new $(1+\epsilon)$-approximation for sparsest cut problem on graphs where small sets expand significantly more than the sparsest cut (sets of size $n/r$ expand by a factor $\sqrt{\log n\log r}$ bigger, for some small $r$; this…
A paradigm that was successfully applied in the study of both pure and algorithmic problems in graph theory can be colloquially summarized as stating that "any graph is close to being the disjoint union of expanders". Our goal in this paper…
Counting problems, determining the number of possible states of a large system under certain constraints, play an important role in many areas of science. They naturally arise for complex disordered systems in physics and chemistry, in…
For $d \ge 2$ and all $q\geq q_{0}(d)$ we give an efficient algorithm to approximately sample from the $q$-state ferromagnetic Potts and random cluster models on finite tori $(\mathbb Z / n \mathbb Z )^d$ for any inverse temperature…
We establish efficient approximate counting algorithms for several natural problems in local lemma regimes. In particular, we consider the probability of intersection of events and the dimension of intersection of subspaces. Our approach is…
We give a number of approximation metatheorems for monotone maximization problems expressible in the first-order logic, in substantially more general settings than the previously known. We obtain * constant-factor approximation algorithm in…
In this survey, we give a friendly introduction from a graph theory perspective to the q-state Potts model, an important statistical mechanics tool for analyzing complex systems in which nearest neighbor interactions determine the aggregate…
We study the approximation complexity of the partition function of the eight-vertex model on general 4-regular graphs. For the first time, we relate the approximability of the eight-vertex model to the complexity of approximately counting…
Factor graphs are important models for succinctly representing probability distributions in machine learning, coding theory, and statistical physics. Several computational problems, such as computing marginals and partition functions, arise…